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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Abigail O'Leary

Mum says sick Russian soldiers planted booby trap grenade in daughter's piano

A Ukrainian mum says sick Russian soldiers planted a grenade in her daughter's piano.

Tatiana Monko and her husband fled the besieged city of Bucha with their two young children when Russian forces invaded.

The family headed for central Ukraine, having no idea when or if they could ever return to their home.

However after Russians withdrew from the city in late March many displaced families, including Tatiana's, returned.

Most found their homes either completely obliterated or ransacked.

Tatiana described how her home was turned upside down by Russian troops who had occupied it, before she went on to discover a grenade hidden in the workings of a piano after noticing one of the ivory keys didn't fully press down.

She said: "I tell my husband, 'there is something there'.

A horrifying image shows a grenade planted underneath the keys of the child's piano (Mariana Hlieva/Facebook)

"We had suspicions about them planting bombs before — my husband mentioned that the awards on the shelf were placed in the wrong order."

Tatiana and her husband asked Ukrainian military troops to return to their home for a further inspection - having already declared the property safe from explosives.

However, during their second visit, they discovered and removed a VOG-25P grenade launcher round from their daughter Dashunya's piano.

In a shocking image taken from under the piano, the grenade can be seen resting under the white keys.

Daryna was a keen piano player and displayed her awards for her talent on top of the instrument in the family home (Mariana Hlieva/Facebook)

Tatiana told Business Insider : "This photo symbolises the ugliness of those who attacked us.

"And...not only the leaders of their state, because it was done by ordinary people who enjoy the murders of Ukrainians. This is a real genocide.

"It is horrible that the world is trying to bargain with Russia, not realising that their price is our lives. This act — that they left an explosive for a talented child — it speaks for itself."

It comes as a Russian tank commander accused of killing a Ukrainian civilian has gone on trial in the first for alleged war crimes committed during the invasion.

A woman walks amid destruction on a street in the town of Bucha (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Ukrainian soldiers walk next to destroyed Russian tanks and armoured vehicles, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Bucha (REUTERS)

The Ukrainian court held a preliminary hearing on Friday after charging a 21-year-old soldier with the murder of a 62-year-old civilian.

During the short hearing, the defendant said his name was Vadim Shishimarin and confirmed that he was a Russian serviceman.

Shishimarin was accused of "violations of the laws and norms of war".

The defendant did not enter a plea at today's hearing and will do so at a later date, his lawyer Viktor Ovsyannikov said.

Russian soldier Vadim Shishimarin, 21, is suspected of violations of the laws and norms of war (REUTERS)

Shishimarin wore a casual blue and grey hoodie and was led into the courtroom by police to a glass booth for defendants.

The Ukrainian prosecutor told the court the defendant was a tank commander in the Kantemirovskaya tank division from the Moscow region.

If convicted he faces up to life imprisonment over the killing in a village in the east of Kyiv on February 28.

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